Hinge cord guard



March 19 1957 MORTQN 2,786,094

HINGE CORD GUARD Filed Nov. 28, 1950 INVENTOR. EVA/V5 Z MORTON H/J A TI'OENEV United States Patent HINGE CORD GUARD Evans T. Morton, Galesburg, Ill., assignor to Admiral Corporation, Chicago, 111.

Application November 28, 1950, Serial No. 197,916

1 Claim. (Cl. 174-52) This invention relates to electric wiring, more particularly to a means for protecting an electric wire, or wires, crossing a hinged joint to prevent wearing or kinking of the Wire as the joint was operated.

In electric refrigerators at the present time, it is common to provide a separate compartment somewhere in the cabinet for the storage of butter. This separate compartment is customarily kept at a temperature somewhat higher than the main compartment so that while the butter is properly refrigerated for its storage, it still will not become so hard as to 'be virtually unusable upon removing it from the compartment.

A convenient Way to maintain the somewhat higher temperature is to heat the butter compartment by some electrical means such as an ordinary incandescent lamp. This use of a lamp is quite common in the art. It is also common to provide this butter compartment on the main door of the refrigerator. This combination requires that wires carrying the electric current to the butter compartment extend from the main cabinet into the door without interfering with the hinges or the operation of the door.

By my invention, 1 provide a construction which is inexpensive and unobtrusive and yet is durable and long lived. In my construction, an electric cord is shielded and passes from the cabinet into the door. The shield allows the cord to slide into and out of the cabinet without undue wear and permits the door to be opened wide and closed again without the cord binding.

While it is apparent that my invention has a particular application to a refrigerator door, it is also envisioned that it may also be useful in providing electrical energy in other doors, such as those of an automobile or the like.

A more complete understanding of my invention in one of its embodiments may be had from a study of the accompanying description and figures which form a part of this specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of one corner of a refrigerator showing one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view along line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the corner of the refrigerator with the door closed.

As illustrated in the figures throughout which like reference characters refer to like parts, my invention is conveniently applied to a common household refrigerator having a cabinet and a door 11. Disposed in the door or built as a part of the door, may be a separate butter chamber or the like, not shown. Since electric current is necessary to warm such a butter chamber to a temperature somewhat above that of the rest of the cabinet, some electrical connection must be made between the door and the cabinet. This is preferably done by continuous wires 13.

The wires 13 by my invention are enclosed in a spring wire sheath 14 which is formed with a turn or two of somewhat larger than ordinary diameter at one end 15. The turns of the sheath are close together and preferably lie directly adjacent each other in the manner of 'the tension springs used on doors and the like in their unstressed state. The enlarged turns at end 15 are surroundedby a plate 17 having an opening therein just large'enough for the main body of the sheath 14. The inner wall 18 of the door is dimpled as is best shown in Pig. 2, and the end is held firmly between the plate 17 and a part 19 of the dimple 2.0. The wires 13 extend beyond the end 15 of the sheath and are oif'set in the dimple 26 extending into the interior of the door 10 through a rubber grommet 21. This offset helps to hold the wires in fixed relationship to the sheath so that there will be little relative movement therebetween which might cause localized wearing of the insulation on the wires 13. The offset in the dimple also causes the wires to enter a thicker part of the door than they otherwise would and thus makes possible easier working of the wires within the door panel. This is noted particularly because the sheath preferably is anchored to the door 10 as close to the hinge line between the door and the cabinet 11 as possible.

A hole 24 is formed in the breaker frame between the inner and outer walls of the refrigerator cabinet at the same distance from the hinge line as the end 15 of the sheath is anchored. A bushing 25 preferably formed of a plastic material such as nylon is disposed in this hole. The sheath 14 is smoothly slidable in the bushing and thus can easily slide out when the door is opened and in when the door is closed. Within the space 26 between the walls of the cabinet, the sheath is free to form a loop 27 when the door is closed or to be pulled from the loop as the door is opened. The end 30 of the sheath may be clamped conveniently to the floor 29 of the cabinet by a clip 32 extending over the sheath and screwed to the wall by a screw 33. The wires 13 may extend from this end of the sheath to make connections with the main leads of the refrigerator in the motor compartment, not shown.

It is apparent that when the door is in its closed position, the sheath is almost entirely within the space 26. As it is opened, however, the sheath 14 and wires 13 are pulled through the bushing 25 because of their attachment to the door 11. The sheath, because of its resilience, forms an are as it is extended from the bushing. As the door is subsequently closed, the sheath again guides the wires 13 through the bushing. It is apparent that this action is not possible with an ordinary wire through as large an are as with the sheath. Furthermore, the sheath is preferably formed of spring wire which is comparatively hard and will not wear rapidly at the point of relative motion. At the same time, the insulated wires 13 are held in fixed position relative to the sheath so that little or no Wear takes place on these wires or their insulation. A still further advantage is realized because the sheath resists sharp bending, kinking or the like and, therefore, protects the wires 13 in that respect also.

Having thus described my invention, 1 am aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

I claim:

In combination with a cabinet having an inner and outer Wall leaving a space therebetween, a front wall enclosing said space, a hollow door hinged to said cabinet, said door having an inner wall and an outer shell, said inner Wall of said door being formed with an elongated dimple therein, a grommet disposed in a hole at one end of said dimple, insulated wires for carrying an electric current extending through said grommet, a cover plate for said dimple, a coiled wire sheath extending through a hole in said plate, said hole in the plate being formed over the end of said dimplefopposite said grommet, said wires extending through said sheath and thereby being offset in said dimple, an opening formed in said front wall, a bushing fixed in said opening, said sheath extending slid-ably through said bushing and forming a loo within said space between the cabinet walls, and clip means on said cabinet to hold said sheath to the cabinet, said loop being large enough to allow said door to open fully.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Schneider Dec. 1, Lemaster Mar. 6, Powers Mar. 8, Uhl July 30, Graham Aug. 26, Hosking Dec. 28, Borgelt Apr. 16,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Apr. 24, 

